The invention relates to a device for coupling a coolant supply to a roller, in particular for continuous casting installations.
In the case of continuous casting installations, red-hot steel runs in continuous strand form over rollers which are mounted, on their ends, via journals in a pillow block by means of roller bearings. The rollers are cooled in a closed loop by means of supplying a pressurized coolant (in particular water) into the interior of the roller in order to remove the heat, which can be realized, for example, by the water duct via an axial roller borehole guided through the journals.
DE 42 07 042 C1 discloses a device for coupling the cooling medium supply to a supporting and/or transporting roller, in particular for continuous casting installations, in which each pillow block is covered by a cover. The cover has a cooling duct which is connected to a further cooling duct in the pillow block for connecting to a coolant supply means or coolant removal means and leads at its other end into the region of the journal borehole. The encapsulated unit which is formed in this manner enables the structural elements to be relatively well protected against wear, since the structural elements are protected against the partly aggressive surroundings of the continuous casting installation (e.g. splash water) and against external mechanical influences.
However, this device firstly has the drawback that the elements of pillow block and pillow block cover that are adjusted precisely to each other in order to form the coolant duct make it difficult to refit existing continuous casting installations. Above all, however, it is difficult for maintenance work to be carried out on this device because the entire pillow block cover has to be dismounted in order to permit access to the structural elements (the elastic compensator, the sealing units provided thereon, roller bearings, etc.) covered by said cover.
DE-A1-10017184 discloses a two-part lead-through for coupling a coolant supply to a roller, the roller being mounted via journals in pillow blocks by means of roller bearings and being provided with the coolant by means of axial bores through the journals, in particular for continuous casting installations.
WO 0491830 discloses a further device for coupling a coolant supply to a roller, wherein the roller is mounted via journals in a pillow block by means of roller bearings and wherein the roller can be provided with a coolant via an axial roller borehole which is led through the journals, a pillow block cover, which can be fixed to the pillow block in order to cover the roller bore and which comprises at least one coolant duct which can be connected to the cooling supply, and at least one sealing unit being arranged between the roller borehole and the pillow block cover.
This device enables an access from the outside in particular to the sealing unit, for example in order to carry out maintenance work, if the inset is dismounted from the pillow block cover, without requiring removing the entire pillow block cover.